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October 15, 2008

I wish I were part of Dirk Devries' family this week. ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has set them up with a new home. (or as ABC says of the show, "Put together one very run-down house, a deserving family, several
opinionated designers, seven days and what do you get? The answer is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.)

The reason I'm highlighting this particular episode is because the family also received a brand new Ford F150 crew cab flexible-fuel vehicle, as well as a year's worth of E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The family is located in Minnesota, a leading area in the US for renewable fuels. There are over 350 retail stations in the state that offer consumers the choice of E85.

Which makes me think, I have done some reading about alternative fuels, but could certainly stand to learn more. So, here's an overview of E85. This alcohol fuel mixture is widely used in Sweden, and is gaining traction in the Midwest (esp. since corn is a major source material for it).

August 25, 2008

I am a huge movie fan. I spent a lot of the Saturdays of my childhood inside a dark movie theater, watching whatever the new movie of the week happened to be. I saw lots of movies that I was probably a bit too young to understand, as my mom is also a movie fan while my dad, not so much. Mom didn't like to go to the movies alone so I tagged along.

When I wasn't at the movies, I was under the project car of the month with my dad. He put himself through college by buying and rebuilding old VW bugs, Karmann Ghias, and Things. So it wasn't all that surprising to them when I developed an affinity for the cool cars in the movies and on television. Yahoo! has their list, Wizard Universe has theirs, but here's my list of some of the most memorable.

1961 Ferrari 250 GT California: What teenager could resist taking this gem out for a spin? True, Cameron destroyed his father's car himself, but Ferris Buehler got to cruise it all over Chicago.

The Batmobile: Whether it was the caped crusader's car from the 60's television show, the cartoony car driven by George Clooney's Batman, or the amazing, transforming ride in The Dark Knight, Batman's car is more than transportation - it's a crime-fighting dynamo in its own right.

1965 Lincoln Continental: When the world is just an illusion and you can have any ride you want, did Laurence Fishburne want a Porsche? A Mercedes? A GT0? Nope - in the Matrix, he imagined himself a Lincoln, jet black, suicide doors. The epitome of cool.

Lotus Esprit: This gorgeous ride made an appearance in both Pretty Woman, the ultimate chick flick, and The Spy Who Loved Me - only in Spy, it converted to a submarine as well. Ultra chic.

Why these cars? Because a true gearhead knows that your car is an extension of your personality. The right car paired with the right part completes the picture and makes the character come alive. Keep an eye on what the onscreen characters drive during your next visit to the multiplex, and see what it says about the story. You might see the characters in a whole new way.